Monday, 29 February 2016

Hey guys! This is the first post in our brand new “How To”
series in which we will be imparting tips and tricks from our burgeoning wealth
of knowledge about makeup application and beauty. I hope you guys will enjoy
following this series as much as we do making it.

Today’s post is all about the dreaded colored eye shadow
which most people have a love-hate relationship with. You see Instagram
overflowing with genius creations using colors but your attempts usually end in
disaster. It’s okay. We have all been there.

I have a huge thing for colored eye shadows and eyeliners so
I have learnt a thing or two about how to make them work. Different colors
enhance your eyes depending on your natural or artificial eye color. A colored
lid balanced with neutrals, however, works for everyone.

So, my aim is to show how you can achieve exactly that.

How To Do It?

Step 1: Prime Your Eyes

This will get rid of discoloration, give your shadows something to
stick on and give you a smooth canvas to work it so make sure it is evenly
applied. I applied Makeup Revolution Focus and Fix Eye Primer in Matte. Oily
eyelids benefit from a dusting of translucent powder on top.

Step 2: Highlight Brow Bone

Always use a matte cream shade, like Glory fromMakeup Academy’s Smokin Palette, to highlight your brow bone to prevent it from looking
cheap and getting shimmer all over the place. I also used the same shade on my
inner corner for now with a flat shader brush from Colorstudio Pro.

Step 3: Apply A Transition Shade

This is the shade between your lid and brow bone so it’s called the transition shade, which allows easy blending of the deeper crease color. I used Shade 5, a mid tone medium matte, brown from Makeup Academy’s Undressed Palette. You can also use a matte bronzer. Anything you put in your crease MUST be matte because we want that area to recede not sparkle. Use a fluffy blending brush like Morphe MB23 to disperse the pigment evenly.

Step 4: Apply Colored Lid Shade

Pack on your preferred lid color such as jewel tones like Unleash from Makeup Academy Smokin Palette, using a firm shader like Sigma E57. Keep this on your mobile lid or it will transfer all over your crease. (Tip: Your mobile lid is the part of your eye lid you can see with your eyes open from the front)

Step 5: Deepen Your
Crease

If you already have deep set eyes, then you might want to skip this step or apply this dark chocolate shade, like White from Makeup Revolution Naked Chocolate Palette, only on the outer 1/3 of your crease. If you have hooded eyes, then you can take it midway to your crease and blend it out thoroughly.

Step 6: Tight-line And Kohl Application

Tightline between your upper lashes with a black pencil, like Luscious Cream Kohl in Black Onyx , and apply it to your waterline too if you wish. Make sure not to go too far on your lower lash line and if you do, just clean it up with a cotton swab.

Step 7: Smudge Lower Lash Line And Apply Eyeliner

Never ever leave your kohl as it is: Always smudge it with a dark shadow like the same one I used in step 4 to deepen the crease: White from Makeup Revolution Naked Chocolate Palette. I used the Sigma E30 Pencil brush for this purpose. I don’t recommend a winged liner or even a dramatic one here because that will totally steal the focus from the colored lid. Either a very thin basic eye liner or a smoked one, like I did, works well. Alternatively, you could skip eyeliner altogether and just go for a pair of false lashes.

Step 8: Highlight The Inner Corner

If you are happy with a matte inner corner that’s fine but if you want to open up your eyes a bit more then put a cream shimmer, like Adorable from Makeup Revolution Naked Chocolate Palette. I used the sponge tip applicator that comes with it. You can use any small brush or even your pinkie.

Step 9: Apply Mascara

We all need some mascara to give our lashes some life. My current favorite is Essence I Like Long Lashes Volume and Length mascara which is excellent for long, defined, clump free lashes.

Step 10: Clean-Up & Conceal

There is always fallout so I never neglect using a cleanser to wipe it off and prefer to do my eyes before my face. Put on your favorite concealer and voila! You are done!

Remember your colored eye lids take center stage and nothing else
on your face should compete with them including your brows so dramatic brows
are a big no no here. When your lids are in the pink/plum/red category, go for
a warm nude pink lip like Essence Stay Matt lip cream in Velvet Rose. A more
purple/ violet eye lid calls for something a more mauve-y plum-y nude like Bell
lipstick 161. My other picks are Colorstudio Pro Color Rush lipstick- Desire
andEssence XXXL Long lasting lip gloss - Soft
Nude.

For cheeks, I prefer cream blushes. Eyelids are in the pink/plum/red territory get Colourpop Super shock cheek in Cruel Intentions (A reddish berry pink). I like a bubblegum pink, like Sleek Blush by 3-Lemonade in Macaroon, for purple/ violet eyes. A rosy nude blush like Inglot Cream Blush 94 works perfectly for all other colors.

Now I hope you won’t be so afraid to try some color on your
eyes. Feel free to ask any questions and I look forward to your active
participation in our new “How To” series.

Love,

Sadaf

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog
edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its
owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com

Monday, 15 February 2016

I admit I am not into fragrances but my recent experience
with Olor is starting to change my mind. I prefer deodorants over perfumes and
I am especially partial towards affordable ones that deliver. Just like with
makeup I don’t think bare necessities should be so expensive particularly since
the ingredients are not all that expensive to begin with. Read on to find out
how Olor fragrances carved a permanent place in my vanity.

Product Claims

Long lasting freshness which restores the feeling of beauty.
24 hours active deodorant.

What Do I Think?

Olor Pakistan kindly sent me three of their new fragrances to
try out and boy, am I glad they did. Olor is originally a Norwegian brand and I
have never heard of it before. The first thing that popped into my head was
that these bottles (150 mL) seem more compact than deos I normally encountered.
The cap is not terribly secure but with a good quality nozzle head there really
is no chance of leakage. It releases a fine mist so all’s good. I don’t know
about 24 hours but it does last all day long in this mild weather.

Onto the flavors! I detest “fruity fresh” scents, which often
smell like fake artificial fruity chews or “citrus scents”, which straight up
smell like Lemon Max *Not even kidding*. The “flowery” scents are
overpoweringly sweet and unbearable and musk has felt suffocating since I was a
kid. Imagine my relief when Olor fragrances beat the odds and won my heart. These
are perfect! Since I am completely ignorant in the science of fragrance making,
please bear with my descriptions.

Rosy Raspberry (Raspberry & Vanilla)

Let’s start with my favorite of these three: Rosy Raspberry.
Raise your hands if you sniff berries before you eat them *Shoots hand in the
air*. I think I want to drown in a bath full of this deodorant. You detect rose
lingering in the background cut with a fresh tang of berry. Then there is
something yummy thrown in which is obviously vanilla that mingles with the
rose. All I can say is you must smell this before you die.

Vibrant Violet (Iris & Blackcurrant)

This one is the relatively subtle of the three. The iris
flower and blackcurrant berry wonderfully complement each other and you can
clearly scent them both here. It is really beautiful, feminine and slightly
sharp. If you are a fan of light floral scents, you will love this one.

Glamorous Gold (Lilac & Amber)

Judging by my body’s reaction to this one, it errs towards
“musky”. It’s heavy, spicy and not very floral. It’s quite balanced and I am
sure most of you will love it for a night out.

I checked out the other fragrances in this range and found
some of my favorite scents that I mostly don’t find in deodorants. So, I will
be getting some more this summer. This is a good budget buy that you just
cannot go wrong with.

Tuesday, 9 February 2016

We started looking into Real Techniques makeup brushes and Beauty
Blender prices lately on different forums because we needed to upgrade our
tools. One day we came across Beauty Bar’s website with their
too-good-to-be-true prices on various products such as Real Techniques and
Beauty Blender that matched brands’ retail prices. Sadaf and I both were
tempted to buy but being extremely careful as we didn’t want any dupes, we had
to go around and ask fellow bloggers (I won’t take any names here) if they had
already bought from them or not, and came across a few who had bought Beauty
Blenders from them and claimed those to be real.

Still unsatisfied, Fizzah wrote to Beauty Bar’s customer care
asking if they really sold original Real Techniques Brushes, because dupes would
be the last thing she would want in her stash – the kind of maniac she is in
this case. The reply came after a few days, which itself looked phony, telling they
were sorry for the delayed response and that yes they sold 100% original stuff.
We shared the email among our own bloggers friends’ group and were shocked to
learn that the same email, exactly same email was received by one of our
blogger friends when she had emailed them the same query a few months prior to
us. Unfortunately, we do not have the email anymore to share a screenshot here
but to ensure we did while writing this post, Sadaf wrote to them again last
night and we have not received any reply yet. However, we add a few screenshots
here of them claiming on their social media accounts that they sell original
Real Techniques brushes.

Would you care disclosing those “authorized” dealers please?

We weren’t really satisfied yet were tempted to buy Real
Techniques from them. Fizzah had already bought Real Techniques Expert Face
Brush and Stippling Brush from La Viva Glam, a Facebook Store known for their
reliability among bloggers and selling original stuff and Sadaf already owned
an Expert Face Brush and a Real Techniques Blush Brush from last year bought
from another reliable source Beautified.pk. We finally decided to give
Beauty Bar a try and purchased Expert Face Brush which we already had in our
stash so we may compare the two and decide for ourselves if they really sold
original stuff at those amazing prices. We also added some L.A. Girl Pro
Concealers to our order as well and this is what happened…

What Really Happened?

There are no words to express how we felt when Fizzah compared the
Expert Face Brush from Beauty Bar with the real one she owns. This new one was
meant to be a gift to Sadaf’s sister so you can imagine our disappointment at
this fraud. There are plenty of companies like Ali Express, ebay, Amazon that
sell dupes and it isn’t very difficult to purchase from them and label them as
real, however those companies do not claim their products to be original but
first copies and that is how they sell them unlike Beauty Bar.

We did not really intend to write this post but we owe our fellow
bloggers and friends a favour. It saddens us to see that girls who would buy their
very first Real Techniques brushes from Beauty Bar would think they got the
original stuff but actually they got scammed.

Here we list a few pointers with pictures that separate a real
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush from its dupe.

Disclaimer:
All the pictures are taken with a Samsung Galaxy S4 and are the sole property
of The Pout Painters.

This
comparison is presented purely with the intention to spread awareness and for
those of you who wish to purchase dupes; we shall be posting a thorough review
and comparison of the dupe and original Expert Face Brush soon.

Real or Fake – How To Tell?

Obviously unless
you have a real brush to compare the dupe to, you cannot tell if it’s real or
not. And for someone who has seen and used a real one, Fizzah didn’t even have
to take the two out of their packaging to pass the final verdict that Beauty
Bar’s Real Techniques’ Expert Face Brush was a 100% fake.

The Packaging: The orange
colour on the fake’s packaging on the front as well as the back is a lot dull.
If you see both side by side, the real packaging has a brighter orange colour on
it. That goes for the font as well which is dull on the fake. Sam and Nic’s faces
in the picture on the fake packaging are white-washed while you can actually see
their real skin in the picture on the actual one.

Overall, the fake packaging looks flimsy and dirty in terms of
printing.

The Brush: The fake
brush head is a lot bigger in size. The colour of the bristles on the fake one
is dark brown while it is actually black on the real one. You can easily spot
this difference by tilting the brush under light. Because the bristles on the
fake one are longer, they bend a lot if you press the brush’s head with your
palm, this does not happen with the original one.

The fake brush has a dent from pressing the ferrule near the head
which you do not find on the real one. Besides that, I spotted one or two more
dents on the ferrule of the fake brush. The orange colour of the ferrule on the
real one has a slight pink tone to it which is missing from the fake one. The
finish of the ferrule on the real RT brush is a lot smoother than the fake one.

The colour of the printing on the brush, again like the packaging
is a dull, dirty orange unlike the bright orange on the real one. The printing
if you look closely on the fake one isn’t really a job well-done such as the
font ‘TECH’ written in bold on the ferrule of the brush isn’t thorough and has
tiny spots which means the printing was done by saving on the ink.

For those of you who are familiar with printing on a regular printer
know you have to set the print resolution of the image on a minimum of 600 before
you take out the print to prevent pixilation. That pixilation is what you see
on a fake RT brush.

If you run your finger on the edges of the rubber part, you will feel
the real brush to have a smoother finish while the fake one’s rubber has pointy
circumference.

We hope these points will help you spot a real Real Techniques
brush from a fake one.

What To Do Now?

We have already heard from bloggers who have tried known dupes of
Real Techniques brushes that they perform fine but obviously the purpose of the
brush changes as the shape and bristles change.

If you have had enough of such scammers robbing good honest people
of their hard earned money, please speak up. We urge you to boycott such
companies and share your story or thoughts on this matter using the #dupedbybeautybar on your social media. Let such fake companies know that women may be crazy
about beauty but they are not stupid.

One might argue that
they may be selling fakes mixed with the real ones and it was just our bad luck
that we got a fake one. Even then, it’s dishonesty and unethical for them to do
so. We had planned to purchase more Real Techniques brushes from them after
ensuring they sold real stuff but now we are not sure we will even buy any
other brand’s products from them. Our advice to you too? Shop from Beauty Bar at
your own risk.

As for us, we will always give you our honest opinion on any store
or product and you are most welcome to join in the discussions.

Our Rating

0/5

Pros

Quick delivery

Free delivery on shopping over PKR 2000

Offer COD

Cons

Lying about dupes being originals

Selling dupes at the retail prices of originals

What have you
guys purchased from Beauty Bar? Let us know in the comments below.

Love,

Fizzah and Sadaf

Disclaimer:
This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here
belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com

Monday, 8 February 2016

For most girls, nail polish is the first kind of makeup they
try. I have long since accepted the fact that I will never be able to neatly
apply nail colour. Even when I am all dolled up my nails are bare because nail
polish and I just don’t get along. When the lovely Jabeen from Bed of Nails
sent one of her hand painted nail sets, I thought: “This is what I have been
waiting to try!”

Product Claims

"We know how hard it is to have unappealing nails at a
big event. For some people it's hard to grow nails, some are nail biters while
others cannot grow their nails due to their careers (Doctors, makeup-artists,
etc). And sometimes, you just don't want to take the risk of breaking your
nails (like your wedding day). Bed of Nails is here to solve your nail related
issues!

We provide top quality & long lasting nails at
affordable rates in Pakistan. The nails are hand painted and made with love.
The nail artist has been doing nail art for about 6 years and a little secret..
she was a nail biter herself!

Order your Bed of Nails and you will not be
disappointed."

There's about 30 colors & 6 shapes to choose from.

What Do I Think?

I have been looking at Bed of Nails Instagram and Facebook
feed since it started and let me tell you there is a lot of variety. The set I
received is 'Style Check' in burgundy color and short square shape. This is so
me! It is so simple yet it makes a statement and goes with a lot of outfits
especially the darker winter neutrals. The package arrived quickly and safely
with the nail set stuck onto an adhesive surface securely wrapped in a plastic
film. This made storing them quite convenient.

You can clearly detect the good quality at the first glance.
The work is really neat and the nails are not flimsy. The design, colour and
texture combination is trendy and chic. The nail paint is not cheap and shows
no sign of chipping or other damage. Application is easy and it sits
comfortably on your nails. You can just stick them on top of your own nails
with a small amount of clear liquid glue like UHU. They come off readily when
you soak your fingers in lukewarm soapy water.

The prices are surprisingly low for a handmade product of
such good quality so I definitely think these are a steal. If you want to save
time and energy applying nail paint or are just looking to try different types
of nail art or nail shapes then I highly recommend Bed of Nails.

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Hello
lovelies! Today I am going to introduce you to a new all natural, halal,
cruelty free cosmetics brand launched by UK based Pakistani entrepreneur,
Ayesha. It is called Mirror and Makeup London and currently offers a nice range
of essentials for nature loving makeup freaks like me. They were kind enough to
send me a package so read on to learn what I discovered about their claims.

Brand Claims

Our mineral makeup is free from preservatives,
fragrance, alcohols, oils and synthetic dyes. Our mineral makeup is Halal
certified. All of our products are all natural, completely vegan, halal and
cruelty free, and handmade in United Kingdom using only the best materials
sourced from the most experienced suppliers!

Product Claims

Our Lipstick range is made of 100% natural &
organic oils, waxes and minerals to achieving creamy, soft and hydrating
lipstick with rich and vivid colours. Our lipsticks are highly pigmented in
colour with luxurious texture that is creamy, soft and moisturising.

What Do I Think?

Now whenever you hear about a brand using natural
alternatives to conventional chemicals, you probably wonder how it affects the
performance of the product. I am pleased to say that there was nothing negative
about the formula of this lipstick. In fact, it sits so comfortably on my lips
that I hardly feel it there all thanks to the goodness of natural ingredients
listed on the tube. The packaging is light holding 3g of product and made up of
matte silver plastic with a metallic bullet case and the name of the brand and
product on the front with its logo.

It has a soothing Cirtus scent which lingers for a
while because of the tangor (tangerine-orange hybrid) essential oil in it. The
pigmentation is good and buildable while the texture is creamy but not smear-y,
if that makes sense to you. The point is that it doesn’t bleed all over the
place. Pink Lush is basically a bright deep pink with tons of purple shimmer
making it look like a pure orchid colour. It reminds me of Colourpop Ultra
matte Liquid Lipstick in Sundae. I am sure most of you cringed when I mentioned
shimmer. Let me assure you there is nothing nasty about the shine rather it
imparts sophisticated duochrome sheen courtesy of the mineral, Mica. There is
no grittiness or discomfort on the lips because of the Mica. It lasted well
over 6 hours on my lips with no feathering or transfer of shimmer around my
mouth until I had a meal at which point it faded evenly from the center of my
lips. You have to be careful with removal so that you don’t end up looking like
you just ate ball of glitter, with really bad table manners.

Organic Lip gloss - Lip Candy

Ingredients

Product Claims

Unavailable

What Do I Think?

Even though I am not a fan of Kylie Jenner, I have
been looking for that oh-so-chic mauve brown that she made so popular. Lip
Candy is like Kylie Jenner goes to Vegas (No product exists with this name). It
comes in a short transparent 7 ml packaging with the ingredients are listed on
it and a matte silver cap holding a stiff doe foot applicator which is perfect
for its purpose. The colour is a warm brown with mauve shimmer sprinkled on top
and the effect is uber pretty. This also includes Mica so the formula feels
feather light and soft on the lips. Once I was done drooling over its duochrome
gorgeousness, I noticed the pigmentation was really good too. Like the lipstick
it also has the pleasant tangor scent to it. The formula is super comfortable
and again it lasted well over 6 hours until I had a meal. Only the center of my
lips looked bare while Lip Candy remained intact on the rest. It stays put
where you apply it and doesn’t feel sticky in the least. What more could you
possibly ask for in a lip gloss?

I must say I am quite impressed with these products
and love them because of the formula. I agree they are expensive but if we rush
to buy high end products with tons of chemicals surely we can spend some money
on natural ones for sake of our health. I do wish the packaging was wow because
of the price but that’s not a deal breaker for me personally. I hope they come
out with a larger variety of lip shades in different finishes like cream, matte,
satin, etc because most people steer clear of shimmery lips. If you can afford
it, I highly recommend trying out their lipsticks and glosses because these
have definitely earned a spot among my favorites.